Integrating Indigenous Ecological Knowledge into Wildlife Management Plans for Kainji Lake National Park

Wildlife management plans for Nigerian national parks have historically been developed through top-down, technocratic processes that exclude the ecological knowledge accumulated by indigenous and local communities over generations of coexistence with wildlife. Kainji Lake National Park in Niger and Kebbi States offers a particularly instructive context for examining how indigenous ecological knowledge might be formally integrated into evidence-based management planning. This study documents indigenous ecological knowledge held by four ethnic communities bordering Kainji Lake National Park and evaluates frameworks for integrating this knowledge into management planning. Semi-structured ethnographic interviews were conducted with 68 elderly knowledge holders and traditional hunters, capturing understanding of wildlife distribution, seasonal movement, species behaviour, and historical population trends. The accuracy and complementarity of indigenous knowledge claims were cross-validated against available scientific survey data. Results demonstrate that indigenous knowledge holders accurately described seasonal habitat use by African buffalo, hippo, and several waterfowl species, with accounts consistent with but more detailed than available scientific records. Historical baseline data derived from oral accounts suggested significant population decline for hippopotamus and crocodile over the past thirty years. Two specific indigenous management practices, namely sacred grove protection and voluntary seasonal hunting exclusions, were found to have measurable conservation value. The study proposes a structured knowledge co-production protocol for the park's next five-year management plan. Keywords: indigenous ecological knowledge, wildlife management, Kainji National Park, co-production, knowledge integration